


alone

by peteyparkour



Category: Hawkeye (Comics), Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Because I can, Clint is trying his best, Deaf Clint Barton, Fluff, M/M, Minor Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanov, One Shot, Protective Bucky Barnes, clint is feelin a little gay, comic!clint and mcu!bucky, so is bucky but he's always gay, started as a crackship but ended up being fluff, winterhawk - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-14 02:10:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20184514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peteyparkour/pseuds/peteyparkour
Summary: When Clint gets hurt on a mission, the last thing he wants to do is stay in the hospital while Natasha watches over him, checking everything at least three times to make sure her best friend is being treated correctly. He wants to be back out, fighting the bad guys, not tied down in a hospital bed feeling like his body might shut down at any given moment.But with a certain visitor stopping by every day, Clint starts to not mind having to stay in the boring place– even if there isn't any coffee.





	alone

**Author's Note:**

> [ even though it's kind of obvious later in the chapter, i use comic!clint instead of mcu!clint, simply because i prefer comic!clint. there might be some traits from mcu!clint that blend in simply due to me not being great at keeping story lines straight though. also just a heads-up, i'm not an expert on some of the topics in this so if i get anything wrong please let me know! ]
> 
> [ last note: anything in italicized parenthesis are thought processes! ]

"Clint, duck!"

Those were the last words Clint heard erupt from Natasha's mouth before he was struck across the head by yet another masked man, the hit hard enough to make Clint trip upon himself and fall to the feet of his attacker. He saw glimpses of Natasha running toward him, panicked words falling from her lips in an unintelligible way as he tried his hardest to get back onto his feet. But his left leg had already been sliced by a knife, his left arm grazed by a bullet, and his right wrist snapped by a pair of unforgiving hands which belonged to a man who lied dead across the alleyway. Clint knew he was barely able to get up with an ally's help, let alone while still fighting today's enemy. He still tried his hardest, getting up to one knee before his final ambush began.

The first kick landed on Clint's stomach, his instincts kicking in and making him curl into himself. He felt the need to vomit, but couldn't bring himself to. Not only did Clint have difficulty remembering the last meal he had that didn't consist completely of coffee, but he was too petty to throw up; he couldn't let his attacker know that he had been hurt by him, as dumb as it sounded as he lied on the ground, unable to move.

The second kick landed on Clint's left knee, causing a strangled cry to escape his mouth. The knife wound on his lower thigh made his leg painful to the touch, the kick igniting the pain like a match ignites a puddle of gasoline. The kick threw Clint's body out of the curled position he was in, his back arching and his head whipping back at the pain. That was his downfall, he realized later.

Once Clint threw his head backward, it gave his attacker a clear shot. The third kick landed right on Clint's right temple and extended down to his jaw, instantly knocking him unconscious. It's a good thing, because the pain he went through would've been much worse if he were awake.

And if Natasha wasn't there to kill each and every one of the baddies for laying a finger on her partner.

⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆

Clint gingerly opened his eyes to the piercing white lights surrounding him, his eyes only opening a sliver due to the brightness. He groaned at the light and the headache that already had begun to form, and he saw a few people rush around out of the small opening of his eye. The doctors swarming him weren't what concerned him, however.

It was the fact that he couldn't hear the groan he knew he made.

He tried to make another sound, and he could feel the vibration move through his vocal cords, but he couldn't hear the result.

"What's going on?" Clint asked (or at least he thought he asked, still unsure if he's actually talking), his eyes shooting open despite the painfully bright lights. He counts one, two, four, _six _doctors surrounding him, each obviously talking but none of their voices coming through. He tried to sit up, but even if the doctors around him didn't hold him back, he would've given up just as quickly as he began. The pain in what felt like his entire body was enough for him to want to call up Tony and demand workers compensation, but for once he kept this thought to himself.

Finally, he saw a flash of red hair race through the door, and though three of the six doctors attempted to hold her back, Natasha quickly made her way to Clint. Her lips moved quickly, but Clint still couldn't hear the words she spoke. Clint felt his eyes water despite his best efforts, and he took a shaky breath.

"Nat, I can't hear you." Natasha's eyes softened and teared up when he said this, and she rushed forward. She gently placed a hand on the left side of Clint's face, and he winced when she did. She pulled her hand away with haste, her expression breaking as she brought her hand to her face. She managed to keep her tears in, but she had to turn away from Clint to recollect herself. Once she faced him again, she took a deep breath and met his eyes.

"OK?" She signed and mouthed, and Clint released a shaky breath.

"I think," he signed back. "What happened?"

"A lot. Want me to write or sign?"

"Write, please." Natasha took a breath to steady herself and nodded, pulling out the phone that Tony gave all of the Avengers a while ago, opening up the notepad app and typing quickly a brief explanation of all of Clint's injuries.

_"Severely broken right wrist, infected left thigh from whatever they sliced you with, stitches in the left arm from a small bullet wound, fractured left kneecap, collapsed lung, internal bleeding just in general, surprisingly only a mild concussion, and hopefully temporary deafness from being kicked in the head and then stabbed... they were trying to kill you but I got to them first don't you worry, no one lays a finger on MY Clint without being brutally killed :),"_ the screen read, and Clint's head throbbed at the sight of the screen but he read it and gave Natasha a small smile anyway.

Once Clint handed the phone back and squinted his eyes, Natasha realized it as well. "Shoot, sorry," she signed quickly as she put her phone away and turned to a doctor. The doctor moved quickly after Natasha stopped talking and soon after the lights dimmed. Clint's chest released a breath of relief as his head began to recede its relentless pounding and Natasha began to sign again.

"Also, you have a visitor. Do you want to see him now or later?"

Clint's eyebrows scrunched in confusion, unsure of who would visit him. Maybe Kate, but Nat said _him_, so that crosses her off the list. It could be Tony, but Clint doubts that he –or any of the other Avengers, for that matter– would have realized that he and Natasha were even on a mission, let alone that Clint was hurt.

"Now, I guess," Clint answered after a moment. _Might as well get it out of the way so I can take a nap._

"I'll get him," Natasha signed back before leaving the ring of doctors. One of them tried to chase her down, but she simply walked away, choosing not to respond. Either that or she did respond but didn't break her stride, and Clint realized that's probably what happened.

After Natasha's left the room, Clint came to the sudden realization that if his visitor was actually one of the Avengers that he might not be able to communicate with them. Though his sign had stayed strong over the years, Clint's ability to read lips faded a long time ago. It's proven to still be a bit useful, especially with Nat since she knew to exaggerate her words, but if he was trying to talk with Tony or Steve it might not come so easily. Though he had just told Nat to bring in whoever was here to visit him, he wished he could take it back and just go to sleep.

Before he could come up with a plan of getting out of seeing the visitor, Natasha strode back into the room. The doctors didn't make a fuss over her this time, probably realizing that she wouldn't hesitate to put the doctors on the receiving end of the treatment if they tried to stop her.

Clint looked at his redheaded friend with tired eyes before glancing at who walked in behind her. Clint's eyes caught the gleam of the metal arm before anything else, his sight slowly making his way to meet the man's eyes.

"Bucky?" Though the name felt familiar on Clint's tongue, it felt strange in this context.

"Hey," Bucky started slowly, looking to Natasha for guidance, though she offered none. "Nat told me you ruptured your eardrums?"

Bucky talked just a bit too fast for Clint to read his lips and decode the full sentence right away, but after a few seconds he understood. He nodded gently, not wanting to move his head any more than he needs to. "Nat has a whole list of things I messed up. Not my best work, but still pretty impressive."

Bucky flashed a small grin at this, and turned to Nat. When Clint looked to her, he saw her lips moving at an incredible rate, so fast that he didn't even attempt to latch onto some of the words she's saying. Looking at Bucky's reactions spoke louder than the lost words on Natasha's lips, and gave away that she was explaining the injuries he had gotten. Bucky ran his flesh hand through his hair out of worry before turning back to Clint.

Words tumbled out of Bucky's mouth at a rate even faster than Natasha a few moments before, and Clint's eyes widened as he tried to interrupt. Clint's mouth remained open as Bucky continued to talk, his words never reaching Clint, until Natasha placed a hand on Bucky's arm. She whispered something into his ear, and Bucky's face flushed as he looked to the ground.

"Sorry," Bucky said, not making eye contact. "Forgot that you can't hear me scolding you anymore and that I probably shouldn't be talking too fast for even Nat to understand."

Clint smiled as Bucky continued to stand awkwardly next to Natasha. "It's okay. It'll take some time, but we'll either get used to it or Stark will come up with some fancy tech so we don't have to worry about it."

Bucky laughed at that, meeting Clint's eyes again. "Ask him to make you a flying car while you're at it, he hates that one."

"Noted," Clint said as he laughed a bit. He didn't overdo it; laughing too much caused a strange pain in his chest, and he realized it was probably either the collapsed lung or internal bleeding Nat was talking about earlier.

Nat rested a hand on Clint's arm, bringing his attention to her. "Ready to sleep?" She signed, and Clint instantly nodded.

"Yes," he signed back. "And for a sandwich. And coffee."

"You can't want to sleep and drink coffee. That doesn't make sense."

"For a caffeine addict, it makes perfect sense," Clint signed back, winking.

Natasha laughed. "Alright, I'll make sure to tell the doctors. Try not to get more injured while I'm gone, okay?"

"You mean you're not staying to watch over me while I sleep to make sure I don't move more than three inches?" Clint signed back, a sarcastic grin growing on his face.

"Don't tempt me," Natasha signed as an exhausted smile rested on her face. She ruffled Clint's hair gently before turning to Bucky and quickly filling him in on the important things they had discussed, which mainly consisted on the fact that Clint was going to bed.

Bucky looked to Clint for a moment before he moved his hands from his side. It was a bit awkward and not entirely correct, but Clint knew what he was attempting to say.

"Good night."

Clint returned the gesture, unable to keep the soft smile off his face.

"Good night, Bucky."

⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆

When Clint had a visitor the next day, he assumed it would be Natasha's red hair floating through the room, checking each machine to make sure they were hooked correctly and were on and every other thing that the doctors obviously had done already, but was surprised to see Bucky visit again. This time, Bucky walked in and greeted Clint with sign, a warm smile resting on his face.

"Good morning," Bucky signed, and Clint smiled.

"Good morning. Get lost on your run?" Clint signed back with ease.

Bucky's eyes widened in panicked confusion at Clint's sign, and Clint realized that Bucky definitely didn't know as much sign as he did. "Sorry," he said quietly. "I asked if you got lost on your run."

"Oh," Bucky laughed, taking the seat next to Clint's chair. When he spoke, he made sure to do so a bit slower than his normal tempo so that Clint could have an easier time reading his lips. "Not this time. I actually got up early so I could come visit. You're welcome."

Clint laughed gently at Bucky's comment. "Did you at least bring me coffee?"

"Even better! I didn't bring anything!" Bucky tried to keep a straight face as Clint's fell, but he couldn't hold in his laughter as he pulled the coffee and breakfast sandwich from behind his back. "Come on, Clint, do you think I'm that mean?"

Clint's smile grew bigger than before and he slowly took the items from Bucky's hands, trying not to upset his broken body as he took a small sip of his coffee and munched on his sandwich. "Thank you, Bucky. It means a lot."

"Of course," Bucky responded. The two continued talking for a while and Bucky made sure to talk slowly and signed when he could, which Clint had no clue Bucky knew, even if it was limited.

What Clint also didn't know was that he was right to think that Bucky didn't know sign, and that he was slowly learning it just for him.

⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆

Bucky continued to return each day, greeting Clint in sign and little by little talking more in sign with him. Though Natasha did visit him often, which he appreciated, he felt a different happiness with Bucky, one he didn't realize before. On the fifth day of Bucky's visits without Natasha, Clint decided to ask a question he had from the beginning as Bucky was getting up to leave.

"Bucky?" Clint signed, getting Bucky's attention. Bucky offered a soft smile and tilted his head, ready to accept the question as he stood up from his chair. "Why did you come to visit?"

"What do you mean?" Bucky signed back with some difficulty, but he signed it correctly.

"Why did you come? None of the other Avengers did, so why did you?" Clint made sure to sign this a bit slower than the speed he normally signed at and mouthed it as well, knowing that though Bucky was getting better at sign that a complicated series would still be difficult for him to decode quickly. It took Bucky a few seconds to fully understand what Clint was saying, but once he did he nodded slowly.

The answer was short, but Clint didn't need more than what Bucky signed to him before he left the room.

"I care about you."

⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆

Clint was in the hospital for a total of eleven days, though he tried to convince the doctors to let him out once it had been seven days of him laying in bed doing nothing. But he wasn't too angry at being there, as the doctors forced him back onto a normal eating, sleep, and waking schedule. The lack of coffee was definitely something he'd complain about after his leaving, but it wasn't enough to make him walk out the door.

His daily visitor also made the time go by a little faster, but Clint wouldn't admit that to even Natasha.

"You know," Bucky signed to him on the last day of Clint's hospital stay, "the others wanted to visit you, but they don't know sign so they thought it would be... um... weird?"

Bucky's face scrunched in thought as he racked his brain for the word he was looking for, but Clint gently stepped in. "Awkward?" Clint mouthed the word with the action in case Bucky didn't know this one, but Bucky's eyes lit with recognition as Clint signed. Bucky normally avoided Clint's face as Clint signed, wanting to speak to Clint through sign itself rather than through reading his lips, but today it felt that Bucky was looking at Clint's face more than his hands.

"Yes, awkward," Bucky signed back, his eyes never leaving Clint's. "But I also didn't want them to come."

Clint tilted his head in confusion and Bucky tried to elaborate as best he can. "I wanted to visit you... with me?"

"Alone?" Clint assists again, willing the slight prick of red on his face to go away.

"Alone." Bucky released a small breath as he broke eye contact, and though he turned his head away from Clint's view quickly, Clint swore he saw Bucky's face painted with tints of blush as well. After a moment, Bucky returned his gaze to Clint. "Are you mad?"

"Mad at what?"

"Mad that I wanted to visit, alone." Bucky tested the new word again, and Clint felt his face warm again but this time wasn't bothered by it.

"No, Bucky, I'm not mad," Clint signed back. "I'm glad you came. I liked it. Being alone with you."

Though Bucky didn't meet Clint's eyes, Clint still saw the blush creeping across Bucky's face as he looked at his feet.

"Clint?" Bucky signed, and Clint's eyes locked on Bucky and his heart sped as Bucky's hands signed his name for the first time. Clint nodded to let Bucky know to continue, and after a few seconds of preparation he did.

"You can't hurt anymore. Okay?"

The statement threw Clint off, not expecting a sentence like that to be directed to him and assuming that what Bucky was trying to say was not exactly what came out. After a look of confusion flashed through his face, Clint responded. "What?"

"I don't want you to hurt. You hurt now, and I don't like it. Don't hurt anymore, okay?" The sentence was choppy and didn't make complete sense, but Clint understood what he was trying to say.

"Okay, Bucky. I won't hurt anymore," Clint signed back, using the same actions Bucky did so that he'd understand what he was saying. A small smile grew on Bucky's face as Clint signed back, and Clint saw a doctor enter his room out of the corner of his eye. The doctor first went to Bucky, explaining something with a smile on her face and small hand movements. Bucky's eyes flashed to her hands out of habit before he realized that she wasn't using sign, instead just complementing her words with movements. Clint watched the doctors lips with the hope that she'd talk slow enough for him to catch on, but only a few words were clear enough for him to understand.

_"We're going... release... can stay, or you can get (run it off? Run on off? Romanoff?)... ask you... okay? Thank (to? you?). You've... help, (mist her? missed her? Mister?) Barnes."_

Bucky's face held a smile when he turned to Clint, the doctor stepping back. Bucky pulled out his phone, his fingers flying across the keyboard as he typed out a quick explanation of what the doctor had told him.

_"They're releasing you," _the screen read. _"You get to go back home! Natasha's on her way now, she's going to help you out and bring you back to the facility. They said I can stay and help Natasha too, if you want."_

_Of course you make me decide instead of you choosing, you idiot,_ Clint thought, debating quickly about whether he should tell Bucky to go or to help out with Natasha. With the hope that Natasha won't ask questions (at least in front of Bucky), he met Bucky's eyes with a smile.

"Would you stay?" Clint asked, his voice feeling strange in his throat. Bucky seemed almost surprised at the sound of Clint's voice, but quickly nodded.

"Of course," he returned, his exaggerated speaking now just as evident as Natasha's.

As if she knew he was thinking of her, Natasha strutted into the room. Her red hair was tied up in a casual ponytail and was leaving a wake behind her, some loose sections framing her face. She was dressed in a black dress that ended above her knees, much different than her normal style of leggings and a simple shirt. Once she walked closer, Clint noticed that she was even wearing makeup, _noticeable_ makeup, and he wasn't about to let it slide.

"What's the big occasion? Get all done up to come get me?" Clint smirked, but Natasha didn't respond, instead ducking her head as her cheeks burned.

Clint was about to sign to her again, pestering her about why she was all dressed up when Steve rapped on the door. Bucky and Natasha's heads whipped toward the sound, and Clint's eyes followed once he saw their attention shift. Clint eyes shifted in confusion at the sight of Steve, not only because he was here, but because he was also dressed up. Steve began to talk, looking at Clint once he stopped talking. Natasha pinched the bridge of her nose before speaking up herself, positioning herself and talking with enough exaggeration so that Clint could understand.

"He's deaf, you idiot. Why do you think Bucky's been learning sign language like it's his job over the past week or so?" Though Clint was focused on seeing Steve's response, he couldn't help but notice the small blush that appeared on Bucky's face at the mention of his ASL studies.

"Wait, that's why? I thought he was _(juice? just?) _doing it _(fu? fur? for?)_ fun." Steve looked down in embarrassment after saying this, Bucky's eyes burning holes into the fancy light blue shirt he was wearing.

"So are either of you going to explain why you're so dressed up?" Clint asked, still extremely confused at the sight. Bucky smirked next to Natasha, turning his head to Natasha to say something that made her blush more. Bucky turned back to Clint, a mischievous smile on his face.

Thankfully the two were next to each other, as they both spoke at once, making it a bit of a challenge for Clint to read their lips. His eyes darted between the two, first landing on Natasha before moving to Steve, picking up enough information from the both to know what they were saying.

"Undercover mission," Natasha said, her face remaining straight and composed.

"Dinner date," Steve said before turning his head to meet Natasha's eyes, which were still pointed forward. "Wait–"

Clint couldn't hold in his laughter and Bucky joined with him. "Sounds like an eventful night," Clint said once he stopped laughing, and realized after that it didn't hurt nearly as much to laugh as it did when he first was admitted into the hospital. _Guess it's a good thing I stayed after all._

Natasha walked to Clint with her chin raised high, obviously ignoring whatever Steve was trying to say to her.

"You ready to get out of here and cause some more trouble?" She signed to him quickly, a small smile growing on her face.

"Never been so ready in my life," Clint started, a smile of his own appearing as his eyes drifted to Bucky. "But I made a promise not to get hurt anymore, so we might have to reconsider some of our plans."

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading!! it would mean the world if you left kudos or a comment, i love hearing/seeing feedback from you all! hope you enjoyed it <3


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